LT4Sam

I've read a bunch of write ups on this, but I'm at the part now where I'll be pulling the harmonic balancer and timing chain cover tomorrow to continue the hot cam install (Mezierre water pump is now done) and I don't see how to get at any of the HB with the cross member brace in the way. Do people jack the motor up for this part? There's only about an inch of clearance in front of this thing, no where near enough room for a puller to fit in there.

Please reply soon, I want to get this thing back on the road ASAP.

Sam

mikey

i've never pulled the balancer hub off with the engine in the car.. but i have pulled the balancer off using socket extension and coming up from in front of the cross member.. so that covers those 3 bolts..
i know i can put a socket on the center bolt also to rotate the motor so i'm thinking all in all, you should be able to pull it ok.. you might have to raise the motor slightly tho.. not sure. sorry, mine has always been on a stand..
even if you do get it off without jacking it up, i'd imagine getting it back on would be another feat, since you won't have much room to use a hammer..
also, when re-installing the balancer, i always use something behind the crank (flywheel end) to help absorb the energy from the hammer and prevent damage to the crank..

[Modified by mikey, 11:18 PM 11/5/2002]


[Modified by mikey, 11:20 PM 11/5/2002]

SpedRacr93

The harmonic balancer is bolted on.

Then you pull the hub off. You have to have an LT1/4 hub puller to get it off that I know of. Check out Kent Moore tools... Do you have a manual?

LT4Sam

There is a balancer then a hub? Interesting...I'll just keep going till I figure this out out I guess. I have a HB puller, I didn't know I needed an LT1/4 specific one though. I have a useless Chilton manual that tells me how to do everything to L98 motors and hardly anything on mine.

Sam

GlockLT4

Yes, the are two seperate pieces. What I did was wedge a giant bar down between the block and the frame of the car that went through the balancer... i used that as leverage so that i could take off the center bolt without having to take the hub off of the balancer.... I don't remember if i had to do that to get the balancer lose, or tightened... I replaced the opti in my '94 over a year ago... and i've slept since then.

LT4Sam

I'm thinking that maybe I need to see a picture of this thing. In my experience the balancer is an outer ring on the center pulley/hub that doesn't really need to be seperated. It's usually just a thick rubber piece with an outer metal ring. Typically the main pulley needs to be removed and the HB comes with it. I didn't mean to mislead anybody with my question, but I took for granted that everybody would be on the same page as me. For this car, these two pieces don't really need to be de-coupled to they?

Thanks,
Sam

SpedRacr93

Man, I'm at school right now, otherwise I would break out my '96 manuals and tell you how to do this.

Pulling the balancer and hub are required for a cam change and you have to have the LT1/4 hub puller to do it, unless you can figure out what Curtis is talking about (sorry, but I don't see the pry bar thing). You unbolt the balancer to take it off. Then you just have a hub on the end of the crank that has three threaded holes. Then you use your hub puller to remove that. This tool is not something you can go down to Autozone and rent either.

I wish I could explain this better. If you're still stuck, I'll be home thursday night, and I'll check on you again. But surely somebody else on here can help you out sooner.

jkingsbury

I did this a month or two ago on my LT4 as part of replacing the opti and water pump etc. I know that NO ONE will believe me, but this was the easiest part of the whole miserable experience. There are two parts: a smaller hub which fits to the front of the crankshaft nose, and a much larger HB which bolts to the hub with three large bolts. Now, I only removed the HB, not the hub behind it, so I can't help you with the hub if you need to remove it too.

All I did to get the HB off was to remove the three bolts (be sure to mark the position of the HB relative to the crank before hand. There is no key.) and pull the HB off of the hub with my bare hand. Unbelieveable. It is a bit difficult to lift the HB between the frame member and the hub to remove it from the engine compartment. Just keep trying different angles and you should eventually find one that will work. If not, jack up the block a bit to create more space.

If the HB is stuck tight, I've been told that you have to jack the car up and come in from the rear with a 2 x 4 or something and whack it until the HB comes off. Apparently the HB can be damaged quite easily, so go gently. I'm not sure I would recommend using a pry bar to pry it off.

Once off, check the HB carefully for signs of the rubber deteriorating or the balancing rings shifting position. If so replace it. Good luck. I hope yours goes as easily as mine. :cheers:

GlockLT4

lol, it's ok. I'm still not 100% sure how i did it either :crazy: :jester

GlockLT4

I have some pictures from when I did my opti... http://www.gulicks.com/vette/workpics (look at the pictures named opti).

here's one picture of it (on the left) http://gulicks.com/vette/workpics/engine5.jpg

LT4Sam

But did you ever remove the timing chain cover? I see from the pics that you got the opti off, but it looks like the main pulley and balancer stayed on, in my case they'll have to come off to get the cam out no?

Sam

JasonL

Have you seen this write-up?
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=102001

LT4Sam

Nope, and it never showed up in any of my searches, thanks a lot!

Sam

GenoLT4

LT4Sam,

Not sure if you'd need it, but I am willing to loan you my GM Shop manual set (2 volumes) for your project.

Just thought I'd offer since I am local to you. Same county anyway

GlockLT4

no i didn't ... i left it on, but i losened everything up. I just didn't finish taking out the bolts :)

LT4Sam

Okay, new cam is in. Thanks for all the help. Turns out it was easier than I thought....by a lot.

I had just enough room to get the puller in there, but my car has 5/8 bolts so I couldn't use any of them since they wouldn't fit in the puller. Plan B was to use skinnier bolts and nuts and pull the balancer off that way, but in the middle of threading on the first nut with the opti in the way, the balancer fell off the hub. Guess that's the benefit of working on a motor with 10k miles? The hub came off fine with the puller, and the rest of the install went by the book.

The hardest part so far has been getting the timing chain cover back on with that little seal on the bottom seated properly, this took about half an hour.

And cleaning gaskets off sucks.

Thanks again,
Sam